Limited is Magic where you build a deck from the cards available in that event, plus basic lands. The main formats are Booster Draft, where you choose cards as packs circulate, and Sealed Deck, where you build from the packs you open.
The appeal is the fresh puzzle. You don't need a collection full of expensive staples to bring a deck. You need to spot what your cards can do together, build a mana base that lets you cast them, and make that plan work.
Limited versus Constructed
In Constructed formats such as Standard, Modern and Commander, you arrive with a deck built in advance under that format's rules. In Limited, building the deck is part of the event. Your card pool is the collection of cards available for that build.
That changes how you evaluate a card. A modest creature can earn a place because your deck needs an early play. A spectacular rare can stay on the sidelines because you can't reliably produce its colours of mana. Every slot has a job.
You'll also hear players call a particular set's draft environment a “Limited format”. That means the cards and strategies within that set, rather than the choice between Draft and Sealed.
Booster Draft lets you shape your deck
A conventional Booster Draft uses three boosters per player, usually around a table of eight. Everyone opens one pack, chooses a card, and passes the rest to the left. Keep picking and passing until those packs are empty. Repeat with the second pack passing right, then the third passing left. Wizards' Draft rules explain the sequence.
Once the draft ends, build your deck from your picks and basic lands. Then play games against individual opponents.
Draft adds a layer of card-selection decisions before deckbuilding: which card belongs in the deck you're building? Early on, take strong cards and keep room to change direction. As your pool develops, think about your curve, the spread of mana costs in your deck, and synergy, cards making each other more effective.
For example, a cheap creature can be the right pick over another expensive finisher when your deck already has plenty to do late. Passing that finisher doesn't make it a bad card. You're solving the needs of this deck.
Draft rewards adapting to what reaches you. If useful cards in a colour keep coming late, that can suggest fewer nearby players are taking them. Treat that as evidence to weigh across several picks, rather than a promise made by one pack.
Sealed gives you the whole puzzle at once
In a conventional Sealed event, each player opens six boosters and builds from that pool. There's no picking or passing. Sealed is also the format commonly used at Prerelease events, where players get their first organised games with a set. Wizards' Sealed overview covers the basic setup.
Our pick for a first Limited event is Sealed. You can lay everything out, compare colour combinations and rethink the deck without making draft picks along the way. There is still a deckbuilding time limit at organised events, so check the schedule.
Start by sorting your pool by colour. Look for combinations that offer enough useful creatures, ways to answer opposing threats, and a playable curve. Your strongest rare deserves a look; it doesn't get to choose your colours alone.
Imagine your green cards include a great late-game creature, but little else you'd want to play. Your blue and white cards offer early creatures, interaction and a clear plan. Start with blue-white. Only consider adding green if the payoff and mana support justify it.
Sealed often produces less focused decks than Draft because you can't select cards to fill specific gaps. That makes it worth checking several builds before settling. It doesn't guarantee slow games or make early plays optional.
The deckbuilding rules that matter
For ordinary Draft and Sealed, keep these rules separate from strategic advice:
- The minimum is forty cards, including lands. You may play more, but our default is exactly forty to draw your strongest cards more consistently.
- You can add basic lands. Tournament rules allow unlimited cards named Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain and Forest. Snow basics and Wastes are exceptions: you generally need them in your pool.
- There is no four-copy limit. If your pool contains five copies of the same card, you can play all five. This also applies to nonbasic lands, but you can't add extra copies from your collection.
- Unused pool cards form your sideboard. In matches with multiple games, these give you options to adjust between games. Ask the organiser which between-match deck changes the event allows.
The deck minimum, duplicate rule and sideboard definition appear in the Comprehensive Rules, sections 100.2 and 100.4. Basic-land exceptions and event procedures are in section 7 of the Tournament Rules.
For a first build, try seventeen lands and twenty-three nonland cards, usually in two main colours. Wizards' deckbuilding advice uses seventeen lands as a starting point. It's a rule of thumb, not a deckbuilding requirement.
A low-cost deck and a deck packed with expensive spells need different amounts of mana. Extra ways to draw cards, find lands or produce mana also matter. A splash means adding a small amount of another colour; do it for a worthwhile payoff with reliable mana support, not simply because another rare looks fun.
Use the right packs
For a standard set event, use the boosters specified by the organiser. Play Boosters are designed for Limited; older products may use Draft Boosters. Set Boosters and Collector Boosters aren't interchangeable replacements for that setup. Wizards explains the product distinction in What Are Play Boosters?.
Don't rely on a fixed total of drafted cards from an old guide. Pack contents vary by product, and some draft variants change the picking procedure. Check the event's instructions, including any Prerelease-specific cards you're allowed to use.
Cube and team Limited
Cube is a curated Limited environment. Someone assembles a card pool and makes packs from it to draft. That lets the designer build around a power level, theme or favourite strategies. Read the cube's overview before drafting: familiar cards can play very differently alongside unfamiliar support.
Cards in a tabletop cube normally return to its owner afterwards. Digital events labelled phantom likewise don't add the cards you open or draft to your collection. Wizards' Arena Cube explanation illustrates that distinction; check each event's entry and reward details separately.
Two-Headed Giant adds a teammate. Its Limited version lets a pair build separate decks from a shared pool, then play together against another pair. Teammates take turns together and share a starting life total of thirty. See the official format rules before playing: sharing a life total doesn't mean sharing all your resources.
Choose Sealed to focus on deckbuilding, Draft to make card selection part of the challenge, Cube to explore a curated pool, or Two-Headed Giant to tackle the game with a friend. Special products and team events can change the usual setup, so check their instructions rather than borrowing the standard pack count.
Before your first event
- Check the format, set, entry cost, schedule and whether cards are kept or returned
- Learn the set's mechanics and main colour-pair plans before you sit down
- Build a deck that can make early plays and cast its spells reliably
- After playing, note one deckbuilding choice you'd change and why
Start with the set browser to explore the cards you'll play, then use the deck tool to inspect your list outside tournament play. Give your first deck a clear plan and a workable mana base. The next pool will give you a new puzzle, and you'll have a better starting point.